


What I Almost Lost

by PumpkinRiver



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-12
Updated: 2010-03-12
Packaged: 2017-10-07 22:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinRiver/pseuds/PumpkinRiver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Often an act of heroism means as much to the giver as to the receiver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What I Almost Lost

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the first [kradam_kiss](http://community.livejournal.com/kradam_kiss/) fest back in October 2009. This was written as a small little snippet but lead to the idea that became **[Honesty is Honestly The Hardest Thing](http://archiveofourown.org/works/62328)**.

“Oh god Kris I am so sorry!” 

Adam moved over to the bed Kris was sitting on and stared at the cast on his arm. The neon lights in the hospital room made the white of the plaster brighter and more offensive than it would have been otherwise. 

“Adam, for the last time this wasn’t your fault.” 

Adam looked at the ground and started playing with the sleeves of his shirt. 

“But if I’d just…”  
“If you’d just nothing. This.” Kris indicated to the cast “Was. Not. Your. Fault.” 

Adam still wouldn’t look at his friend. Instead he sat down in the chair next to Kris’s bed. 

Kris reached forward and placed a gentle hand on Adam’s cheek. He carefully avoided the butterfly bandage on the side of Adam’s eye. 

“Does it hurt?”  
“It’s barely a scratch.”  
“It needed stitches.”  
“It needed a stitch, singular. I think a broken arm wins the injury competition.”  
“Well I do tend to beat you in competitions don’t I.” 

Adam laughed and swatted Kris’s hand away from his face. The smile quickly changed to a pained hiss. 

“Oww.”  
“Your face hurt?”  
“Ribs.”  
“Ribs? Shit Adam you should have said something.”  
“They’re not broken just bruised.” 

Kris stared hard at his friend. He didn’t like the way Adam was cradling his torso. 

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t quicker.”  
“Don’t Kris…just…don’t” 

Kris moved so he was sitting with his legs hanging off of the hospital bed and patted the mattress next to him. Adam hesitated before getting up off of the chair and sitting next to him. Kris took Adam’s hand in his uninjured one.

“If I hadn’t been there…Adam I don’t want to think about what would have happened.”  
“I’d have had the shit kicked out of me some more, they’d have gotten bored, and then they’d have gone out to a bar and laughed about how the stupid little fag got what he deserved.”  
“Adam!”  
“Well it’s true. In the morning it wouldn’t have meant anything more than the rest of their sad pathetic lives. They’d probably never have thought about it again.”  
“They will now.”  
“Hell yeah bitch. A guitar wielding vigilante does tend to make an impression.”  
“I’m just glad that my guitar case is one of the hard ones.”  
“And you swung that thing like a pro man.”  
“Well, obviously not so much.” 

Kris nodded at his cast. 

“You did that yourself? I thought one of them must have gotten a shot in.”  
“No, I caught it on the follow through. I wasn’t in full control of the case and it smacked right into my arm and snap. Broken. I didn’t even feel it at the time, just kept swinging until they were all on the ground and you had dialed 911.”  
“You might want to make that a cooler story before the press asks it.”  
“You think they will?”  
“Kris, you took on three men at least twice your size to save my useless ass and you did it using your ever faithful guitar. Yeah, I think the press are going to ask about it.”  
“Oh.” 

It was Kris’s turn to look at the ground. Adam noticed the change in his friend’s attitude and knew that Kris was thinking, as he himself was, of endlessly having to answer questions about the night; of not being allowed to move past it. He squeezed the hand he was still holding in reassurance. 

“Why were you at my house at 10:00 at night anyway?”  
“I was coming to play you a new song that I’d been working on. I wanted your opinion on it.”  
“At 10:00 at night?”  
“I’d gotten stuck on the chorus. I thought you might be able to help.”  
“I almost wasn’t even there. I’d been at a bar but was tired so I said goodbye to everyone and came home…They must have seen me there and followed my taxi. Or maybe they were just waiting for me. I paid the driver and was walking through my gate when I got shoved from behind into my drive. I didn’t see them, I hadn’t heard them. They caught me off guard.”  
“You were at your house, you should never have had to be on guard.” 

Kris moved his hand out of Adam’s and wrapped it around his shoulder. He could feel Adam shaking underneath his arm so he pulled him closer, tightening the hug. 

“They…well…there were three of them, as you know, and I never got my balance and they dragged me round the side of the house and just started, god they just started punching and kicking and it felt like forever but I only have a small cut near my eye and some bruised ribs so it can’t have been long. And then you were there and I still don’t know what happened.”  
“I was waiting on your porch.”  
“You were what?”  
“I was waiting on your porch. I needed your help with the song, you weren’t there, I decided to wait. I knew the code for your gate so I let myself in and settled down to wait on your porch. I heard the taxi pull up and then you were crashing through the gate with other people and I thought you’d brought some friends back. But then they grabbed you and dragged you and all I could think was ‘got to help Adam’ so I ran to where you were and swung. Only I was still holding my guitar and well…you know the rest.”  
“You waited for me. You could have been there for hours. It might have been a wasted trip.”  
“But it wasn’t. In fact, I think it was the least wasted trip I’ve ever taken.”  
“Kris…”  
“Adam, I don’t know…I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t alright. You’re my best friend. You’re the only one who truly understands my life right now. I need you in my life. I want you in my life. I will never regret tonight, never.” 

Kris was looking Adam firmly in the eye; he needed Adam to see the truth of his statement. When Adam finally looked away Kris pulled him closer and pressed his lips into the hair just above Adam’s ear. He kept his face close to Adam’s for a second, breathing in the smell of what he feared he had come so close to losing. Adam squeezed his hand once more in response. 

Kris pulled away from Adam slightly but didn’t break contact; keeping Adam pressed to his side. He placed his head on Adam’s shoulder and Adam wrapped an arm around his waist. 

The door opened and Katy rushed in. Adam wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her without make up before. She gasped as she took in their appearances. 

Kris moved his arm from around Adam’s shoulder and took her hand in his. At the loss of contact Adam hesitantly moved his arm from around Kris’s waist. He started to pull away but Katy stopped him by taking his hand in her free one. 

“I think we look worse than we feel.” 

Adam nodded his agreement, not wanting to be the cause for the tears in her eyes to fall. 

Gently Katy pulled them both from the bed. She looked at them both, checking they really were still there, and nodded to herself. 

“Come on, let’s go home.”


End file.
